Personalized Jewelry Holder for Girls

I find that one project often leads to another. Why? Because I cannot throw anything away. Anything. So remember when I redid this coffee table earlier this month? I removed the cabinet doors to make the coffee table more open and knew eventually I would come up with a purpose:

Did you catch the post earlier this week about our friends who bought a summer cottage? Well they have precious twin girls who served as flower girls in our wedding a few years ago so we wanted to give them something special, too! These girls will turn 6 on August 8 (they were born on 8/8/2008, how cool is that?) so they are in an in-between stage where they have ditched the Disney and princess stuff and are now into everything sports related. But what girl doesn’t love jewelry? Enter the jewelry holder:

I decided to go with a slightly sophisticated look so these jewelry holders might stick around for a few years. I liked the compact size of the cabinet doors, too.

So how did I do it? First I removed all the hardware and filled the remaining holes except for the holes from the cabinet pulls because I had a plan for those (I generally use caulk to fill holes because I find it easy to work with). This method usually requires 2 applications with dry time in-between (read the directions on your caulk for length of time–the products vary). Once dry, I sanded the residue left behind by the caulk. Then I lightly sanded each cabinet door to rough it up a bit so that it would accept paint.

I used a primer/paint in one leftover from another project. I applied 3 coats, leaving ample time to dry in-between (this is particularly important in the humid summer months). I used a sanding sponge to distress the edges of the cabinet doors and some of the interior parts.

I researched fonts online and settled on one I liked. I printed out the first name initials of each girl and traced them onto the cabinet doors. I painted the letters with a latex paint leftover from a housewarming gift I did a few months ago. I primed and then painted wooden knobs I had leftover from a vanity I painted last fall because the hardware from the coffee table wasn’t going to cut it. Lastly, I added sawtooth picture hangers to the backs of the jewelry holders. Here’s one last shot up close:

Have you repurposed any leftover parts from a previous project?